


the after

by brahe



Series: mckirk beyond [3]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, mckirkbeyond, post-2009
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:10:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brahe/pseuds/brahe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim steps off the shuttle with shaking knees and a composure on the edge of falling. Leonard's there to catch him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the after

**Author's Note:**

> day three of mckirkbeyond! prompt: vulcan rescue mission. this idea was in my notes for a while, so this gave me the push i needed to finish it. again i'm super late, but i couldn't decide how i wanted to end this.

The adrenaline runs out as soon as the earth was back under his feet. He barely makes it off the shuttle before his knees shake, his hand shooting out to grab something, _anything_ , to avoid falling. Instead of cool metal beneath his fingers, there are strong arms at his back, holding him upright and steady. As always.

  
"Woah, there," Bones says softly from behind him. His voice feels like a blanket fresh out of the drier, and Jim lets his weight rest on the doctor.

  
They stand beside the shuttle as the rest of the passengers disembark. For someone else, it looks like nothing more than a case of space legs, the adjustment to real gravity sometimes taking a brief period of wobbly knees. But Leonard sees it for what it really is, and tightens his grip on Jim's arm. Jim's shaking like a leaf, and Leonard wants to wrap him up in his arms, hold him secure and safe until the panic's gone.

  
"You're okay," he says, and his voice is still quiet and soft. "We're all okay."

  
That seems to do the trick, Jim's breathing going steady and the glaze over his eyes disappearing.

  
"C'mon, let's get moving," Leonard says, and Jim nods.

  
"Yeah, okay," he agrees, and wraps his arm around Leonard's shoulders. Leonard's own arm is around Jim's waist, and the position makes him think about Academy nights, walking home and keeping each other standing after one too many drinks.

 

 

 

They blend into the crowd on the way to Headquarters, Starfleet's golden boy just another face in the sea, for once. There's officers rushing around them, shouting orders and carrying bodies on stretchers towards Emergency Medical. There's a part of Leonard that's itching to help, the doctor in him eager to heal. But then Jim's fingers twitch and curl tighter into his shirt, and he’s reminded that he’s with his patient now.

 

“Almost there,” Leonard says as soothingly as he can, because with Jim pressed so close into his side, he can feel the way the captain is shaking, can feel the unsteady way he places his feet on the ground. Jim’s ready to collapse, he knows. He knows the man like the back of his own hand. And though they haven’t talked about this mission, Jim hasn’t told him everything that happened, Leonard can guess well enough. He knows Jim pushed himself beyond anything he ever should have, relied on his wit and determination to keep him running, leaving everything to _the_ _after_.

 

 

 

He takes Jim to his office at the hospital because it’s the closest. It’s a small room, given to him because he was already one of the most qualified doctors here on his first day, but it’s a private four walls, and it serves well enough. He sits Jim on the desk and goes in search of the med kit he keeps in the room.

 

Jim blinks slowly, and Leonard knows that face. Jim’s letting everything wash over him, recalling every moment of the last…however many hours, replaying every second. His knuckles are white with the force of his grip on the edge of the desk, and his arms are vibrating just slightly. Leonard sighs internally, wishing not for the first time that there was more he could do to help his friend.

 

For it is now _the_ _after_ , and Jim’s on the edge of falling apart. And Leonard will be there to pick up the pieces and put him back together.


End file.
